GREENSBORO, N.C. — Salespeople can often be found in many neighborhoods going door to door selling everything from magazines to roof repairs, home security systems to lawn maintenance. A few months ago, one of those salesmen knocked on Sarah Hayes’ door, “(He) offered a plan with phone, internet, and DirectTV so we signed up."
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The plan was sold as almost too good to true. Hayes and her fiance would get two free phones, unlimited text, talk and data, internet service and DirectTV for only a few bucks more than $200, “I thought it was a great deal” said Hayes. “He said it was a limited time deal.”
What Hayes would soon learn is that “great deal” was not that great after all. One month after signing up one of the phones had yet to arrive and their first bill was about $30 more than they signed up for, “It put us in a stressful situation financially,” said Hayes.
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At one point she says she was told by an AT&T representative that the “promotion” was no longer available, and she was not going to be able to get that second phone for free, “That was ridiculous,” said Hayes.
After making repeated calls to AT&T without anyone helping, Hayes reached out to our Call for Action Team at WFMY News 2. We initially looked over the deal Hayes signed up for and noticed one of the pages was not signed. Hayes says she never saw the page until a couple of weeks later.
We then reached out to AT&T to ask them about the unsigned document, a bill that was higher than stated and the phone that still hadn’t arrived two months after Hayes signed up.
A spokesperson told us AT&T would have a “resolution team” investigate the situation and get back to us and the customer. In the meantime, we sent an email to AT&T requesting it answer several questions we had about the deal that was sold.
The company responded back but declined to answer our questions simply saying it was working with the customer to get the issue resolved.
The next week Hayes received an email from AT&T releasing her from the two-year contract, wiping away the balance she owed on the account and agreeing to send an additional check once the phone is returned. The total debt wiped away is right around $500, “I’m so thankful (WFMY News 2) was able to help me, I didn’t know what to do, thanks so much,” said Hayes.
The couple has already signed up with a new provider and all services with AT&T were canceled.
AT&T declined our interview request and would only tell us that it was working with the customer to get the issue resolved.